Why do people call it Russia instead of the Soviet Union?

Don’t hide:  plenty of players are willing to play online with TripleA.  I used to be a horrible player a couple years ago, and now I am just a mediocre player.  I am glad that so many people were willing to school me on proper gameplay tactics.

Victory in the Pacific is essentially impossible if you lose China.  You need the cash from those territories to be able to to outspend India + ANZAC + US in the theater.  Still, I find if China is making 15 PUs, ANZAC is at 20, and India can get up to 10, it is difficult to make much progress anyway.  There will be more Allied ground units made each round in Asia than you can pump out from 2 factories.  It is possible to build a third Japanese factory on the mainland, but then you are spending almost your entire budget on ground units and can’t compete in the naval battles.

When Yunnan is held strongly, I transition to helping Germany out by forcing the US to keep spending in the Pacific.  It is a huge help if you can hold the Philippines, threaten Hawaii, sometimes take the Aleutians or an ANZAC territory, and prevent India from sending troops West. You can still make 40 PUs without much of China, convoy raid India to keep their economy slow, and force the US to spend 20 PUs a round in the Pacific to prevent things from getting too out of hand.

@Yavid:

Let me say this first. I HATE turtling. Your number one job as the Russian player is to kill Germans. The more expensive the unit the better. Be prepared for hit and run attacks. keep your offensive units together but off the front lines if possible.

I completely agree, Russia can not sit there and take every German swing. they have to swing back if they want to last long enough for the allies to rescue them. the Russians have to counter attack when ever possible.

Well Japan sucker punched the US from the back of the room.
Hitler went after Moscow after signing a non-aggression pact with them 2 years earlier.

I don’t see a reason why you can’t renege on a promise =)

Bear in mind that the USSR moves before England does (OOB) and before America and England (Alpha 2) thus it can be used for the “Can Opener” maneuver as well.  (Pop a blocking destroyer so the war fleets can sink the Italian/German navy and invade Hamburg/Frankfurt Germany, Berlin Germany, Rome Italy, whatever.)

If for no other reason, moving the Russian submarine to the combined Anglo-American fleet in the Atlantic might be worth it.

And, to belabor the point, it is another defending ship if your Anglo-American fleet is ever attacked, and one that neither England nor America has to purchase.

Note, these are the same arguments for using the Russian Submarine in previous versions of the game.  It’s always been semi-useless, but it has also always had a use in the rare situation it was needed.  Sometimes it was America who had to make a hole for the Russian due to the turn order, but it was the same basic situation.  Another unit that the Axis have to account for if you use it properly.  Sure, if you sit the submarine off the Cape of Good Hope (S. Africa) the Axis can virtually ignore it.  If it’s near Panama, the Axis can ignore it.  But why not use it as another unit with the Anglo-American flotilla?  It does not cost anything, it cannot be used to defend Russia in any meaningful way and if you do not use it thusly, you are essentially giving the Germans (and maybe the Japanese if you move it to the Pacific/Indian Oceans) a 6 IPC bid. (8 classic, but you dont start with a submarine in classic)

@gsh34:

Guys,

Thanks for trying this out.  Calvin, did you also have Japan shuttling troops across northern China so that a constant supply of Japanese troops would be arriving at J5?  Would six to eight Japanese troops a turn even matter against Russia in this scenario?  Did you see any thing that showed promise about this strategy?  Do you think this could be something possible to do after a successful Sealion so the transports are utilized?

I wish I knew how to view your map download.  Can you explain that please?

I think the map is pretty self-explanatory. How are you planning on streaming in that many Japanese troops when your planes aren’t available for dealing with China and UK? With no pressure on Russia’s western front, I don’t think they have to worry about the Japanese much.

I was thinking (if players agree) to have Russia & Japan put 1-2 ipc’s in a NAP fund. Let it grow, and the player that breaks the agreement (with an actual attack) forfeits the NAP fund to the other player. Allow Russia to declare war in name only (no attack) so it can invade neutrals (which is a silly loop hole anyway, Russia should just be allowed to invade neutrals from the get go).

Make a list of things that would be a deal breaker, like Russia in China or UK Pac tt’s, or allied attacks on Jap from Russian land ect…

Perhaps they didn’t have electric blankets…

Or maybe they just didn’t rate the Japanese fleet as a threat.  But anyway, it’d be nice to have the option.